PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Microsoft is to release the firm’s largest ever Patch Tuesday update with 17 security bulletins addressing 64 separate vulnerabilities.
The second Tuesday of each month, known as Patch Tuesday, is the date the software giant pushes out updates for Windows update. The firm’s previous record for a Patch Tuesday update was in December last year when 40 vulnerabilities were fixed.
Nine of the 17 security bulletins are described as ‘critical’, the highest threat level, while eight are rated important. Collectively the patches address Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, Visual Studio, SMB, .NET Framework and the GDI+ system.
One reason for the large number of vulnerabilities addressed is that one bulletin in particular, MS11-034, targets 30 seperate flaws due to a problem with Windows Kernal-mode drivers.
"This was a great month for industry collaboration. As we’ve said time and time again, it truly takes a community to keep customers and the overall ecosystem free from threats," said Microsoft security response PR man Pete Voss on the Technet blog.
Voss expressed the firm’s thanks to 21 industry experts for their assistance in helping Microsoft to address the flaws addressed in the upcoming patch.
